Publications: GHG Reduction Technologies Monitor

Despite delays of some key carbon capture and storage projects, Department of Energy officials emphasized to House lawmakers this week that DOE is making progress toward wide-spread deployment of CCS, noting a flagship project that is expected to come online later this year should provide DOE insight as to whether it is viable just a few years after it is operational.

The reliability of the electric grid could be threatened by an Environmental Protection Agency draft rule that sets greenhouse gas emission standards for new coal-fired power plants—and which some have argued will prevent new plants from being built—some Senators said this week.

As the Obama Administration has been working to advance the President’s Climate Action Plan, including crafting regulations setting standards for greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy have placed a huge emphasis on conducting broad outreach to stakeholders, Administration officials said this week.

Karen Frantz GHG Monitor 2/21/2014 Utilities should consider partnering with oil companies in carbon dioxide-driven enhanced oil recovery projects in order to make better financial returns, a Department of Energy official suggested at the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners winter meeting in Washington last week. Thomas Sarkus, Division Director at the National Energy Technology […]

Karen Frantz GHG Monitor 2/21/2014 Total methane emissions in the United States may be about 25 to 75 percent higher than estimates from the Environmental Protection Agency, according to a recent analysis from scientists at the University of Stanford, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the University of Michigan, MIT and others. The analysis, published in […]

Karen Frantz GHG Monitor 2/21/2014 Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz emphasized the Obama Administration’s commitment to an “all-of-the-above” energy strategy this week—including support for the continued use of fossil fuels—and said the Department of Energy is trying to increase its collaboration with China on carbon capture and storage technologies in order to allow the use […]

Karen Frantz GHG Monitor 2/21/2014 Secretary of State John Kerry spoke with briefly with Chinese officials about carbon capture and storage technology during his diplomatic tour of Asia this week, focusing on an initiative to accelerate the adoption of CCUS in both U.S. and China that was delineated under a bilateral Climate Change Working Group […]

Karen Frantz GHG Monitor 2/21/2014 The United Kingdom should adopt a target of generating 10 percent of its electricity from fossil fuel plants fitted with carbon capture and storage technology by 2025, said an industry-led stakeholder group that includes BP, Alstom, Siemens, Costain and EDF Energy last month—joining a chorus of industry calls to the […]

Karen Frantz GHG Monitor 2/21/2014 DM Petroleum Operations Company is suing the Department of Energy over its failed bid for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve management contract, alleging that the Department’s evaluation of its proposal was flawed, causing DM Petroleum, the incumbent contractor and lowest-priced bidder, to lose the award to a team led by Fluor […]

IN THE EPA An Obama Administration official who helped craft the Climate Action Plan and who also worked for the Environmental Protection Agency under the Clinton Administration said in an interview late last week that since her early years at the EPA she has seen a shift in how businesses deal with climate change issues, […]

Karen Frantz GHG Monitor 2/28/2014 Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz was pressed on the viability of carbon capture and storage technology at the winter meeting of the National Resources Committee of the National Governors Association earlier this week. In response to a question from Wyoming Gov. Matthew Mead about the economic and technical viability of […]

Karen Frantz GHG Monitor 2/28/2014 The Environmental Protection Agency’s new draft rule essentially mandating carbon capture and storage technology for new-build coal-fired power plants has helped spur renewed interest in the technology, Deputy Assistant Energy Secretary for Clean Coal Julio Friedmann said this week. The retooled rule—which sets greenhouse gas emission limits for new coal […]

Karen Frantz GHG Monitor 2/28/2014 Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association Chief Technology Officer Jim Spiers said this week that he would be happy if the cost of capturing carbon would reach $20 a metric ton when considering what price capturing carbon needs to be for the large-scale rollout of carbon capture and storage technology, but […]

Karen Frantz GHG Monitor 2/28/2014 The Supreme Court this week appeared divided over whether the Environmental Protection Agency has the authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants under a Clean Air Act permitting program—although there seemed to be consensus that the EPA still has other means of regulating ghgs from stationary sources. The […]

Karen Frantz GHG Monitor 2/28/2014 The Environmental Protection Agency is seeking to beat back criticism of its draft rule that would force new-build coal-fired power plants to be equipped with carbon capture and storage technology by asking for public comment on its interpretation of the Energy Policy Act of 2005—a law that Republicans are arguing […]

Karen Frantz GHG Monitor 2/28/2014 The United Kingdom and Shell signed a multi-million pound contract for engineering, design and financial work in the form of a Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) study for the Peterhead carbon capture and storage project this week, taking the project to the next phase of development that is expected […]

Karen Frantz GHG Monitor 2/28/2014 The energy industry needs to plan for a future when there will be a cost of carbon, said Senior Counselor to President Obama, John Podesta, at the ARPA-E Summit in Washington this week. “I think the energy industry has to plan for an eventuality where the externalities, the cost of […]

Karen Frantz GHG Monitor 2/28/2014 The United States can achieve significant and affordable reductions in its greenhouse gas emissions by displacing power from high-emitting coal-fired power plants with power from under-used natural gas plants, the Clean Air Task Force said in a report released this week. The report, which is being presented to the Environmental […]

IN THE STATES California sold 19.5 million carbon allowances at the price of $11.48 each during its sixth auction held Feb. 19, according to the state’s Air Resources Board. The state also auctioned 9.26 million advance allowances that can be used beginning in 2017 at $11.38 per allowance. The auction was in line with analysts’ […]

Karen Frantz GHG Monitor 3/07/2014 Two Democratic Senators questioned why industry hasn’t done more to advance carbon capture and storage technology at a coal technology symposium held in Washington this week. Sens. Joe Manchin (W.V.) and Mark Warner (Va.) said that furthering CCS is vital to keeping fossil fuel—and particularly coal—viable in a carbon-constrained world. […]

Karen Frantz GHG Monitor 3/07/204 The Obama Administration slashed funding for the Department of Energy’s coal research budget in its Fiscal Year 2015 request to Congress this week, proposing $302.4 million for the program, a 23 percent decrease from 2014 enacted levels. Despite the proposal of a new program for natural gas carbon capture and […]

Karen Frantz GHG Monitor 3/07/2014 The House of Representatives easily passed legislation this week that seeks to roll back the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed regulation setting CO2 emission standards for new power plants. The 229-183 vote largely fell along party lines, although 10 Democrats, mostly from coal states, joined Republicans in approving the measure. Speaking […]

Karen Frantz GHG Monitor 3/07/2014 Although the Obama Administration trimmed overall funding for the Environmental Protection Agency in its Fiscal Year 2015 budget, released this week, addressing climate change and improving air quality were named as top funding priorities, with the Administration requesting $1.03 billion for such efforts, $41 million higher than FY 2014 enacted […]

Karen Frantz GHG Monitor 3/07/2014 The United States needs to take the lead on advancing carbon capture and storage technology, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) said at a coal technology symposium held in Washington this week—arguing that other countries that are becoming increasingly reliant on coal to meet growing energy demands, such as China and India, […]

Karen Frantz GHG Monitor 3/07/2014 Despite a “robust” regulatory regime surrounding carbon capture and storage in the United States, a regulatory framework that supports the commercialization of CCS is still needed to advance the technology, Kipp Coddington, a partner at the law firm Mowrey Meezan Coddington Cloud LLP, said late last week. Coddington, speaking at […]

Karen Frantz GHG Monitor 3/07/2014 The Environmental Protection Agency could incorporate end-use energy efficiency programs into its anticipated rule setting emission standards for existing power plants, according to a paper published by the Harvard Environmental Law Program’s Policy Initiative this week. “End-use energy efficiency programs have been adequately demonstrated as cost-effective methods for achieving energy […]

ON THE INTERNATIONAL FRONT In advance of a meeting of the European Council scheduled for later this month, the EU’s Environment Council met in Brussels early this week to debate the controversial 2030 policy framework for climate and energy proposed in January. The new CO2 emission reduction targets outlined in the proposal were set at […]

Martin Schneider GHG Monitor 3/14/2014 JACKSON, Miss.—Former Department of Energy Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy Chuck McConnell made an impassioned case for enhanced oil recovery as the primary economic driver for the capture of carbon dioxide in a speech here last week, pushing back against what he called the “myth” that EOR is a niche […]

Martin Schneider GHG Monitor 3/14/2014 Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead (R) signed into law last week a bill providing $15 million for a new carbon capture and storage test center that would explore novel uses for captured CO2 and develop new markets for carbon. The bill provides the $15 million contingent upon the state receiving $5 […]

Martin Schneider GHG Monitor 3/14/2014 The Department of Energy’s FY 2015 budget request renames the Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships, rebranding the program as Storage Infrastructure “to better represent the characterization and field activities that occur in the RCSPs and other small and large-scale field projects in a variety of geologic reservoirs in onshore and offshore […]